Tai'an City is a stretch
of ancient and mystical land. Five thousand years ago here originated
the brilliant Dawenkou Culture, which reflects the whole course of the
transition from matriarchal society to patriarchal society and the
disintegration of the primitive society. During the Spring and Autumn
Period and the Period of Warring States, Qi-Lu Culture in the Taishan
Mountain Area is so magnificent that it wins people's admiration all
over the world. Since entering the period of Qin Dynasty and Han
Dynasty, Taishan Mountain has gradually become a famous mountain where
the emperors granted titles to Buddhists and did their worship until
the Ming and Qing Dynasty, which has lasted for more than a thousand
years.

Tai'an City is situated at the center of Shandong
Province, located at 116°02ˊto 117°59ˊ east longitude and 35°38ˊto
36°28ˊnorth latitude, and is about 176.6 kilometers long from east to
west and about 93.5 kilometers wide from north to south with a total
area of 7,762 square kilometers. Tai'an City is a part of the Middle
Lu mountainous region, of which the whole terrain inclines from
northeast to southwest, and there are many kinds of landforms within
the boundaries, such as mountains, hills, plains, marshlands, lakes,
etc. The mountainous regions are mainly grouped in the north and the
east of the city, which have an area of 140,700 hectares, occupying
18% of the total area of the city, with the altitudes from 400 to 800
meters. The hills are distributed mainly over the southwest of Xintai
City, the east of Ningyang County, the northwestern suburb of Tai'an
City, the fringe of Feicheng Basin and the north end of Dongping
County. The plains are distributed mainly along the mountains and
rivers, mostly are the valley plains, conoplains and diluvia plains.
The marshlands and lakes are mainly distributed within the Dongping
County. The Dongping Lake is the second large freshwater lake in the
province, and is the only survived waters of "Liangshan Waters and
Lakes".

Tai'an City belongs to the
continental half humid monsoon climatic area of the north warm
temperate zone, and it has a clear distinction between the seasons. It
is delightful in all seasons with the sunshine and climate
synchronization, and the rainfall and heat in the same season. It is
dry and windy in spring, hot and rainy in summer, warm and fresh in
autumn, and cold and little snow in winter. The average total amount
of the solar radiation of the city is 121.58 kilocalorie/cm2 in many
years, with the annual amount changes within 112 to 131
kilocalorie/cm2. The average annual temperature of Tai'an City is
12.9℃. The average highest temperature is 26.4℃ in July of the year,
while the lowest is in January with 2.6℃ below zero in average. The
average annual precipitation of the city is 697mm. Being affected by
the monsoon climate, the annual precipitation changes greatly.

Tai'an City is situated at
the south of Taishan Mountain. Taishan Mountain belongs to the monsoon
climate of the warm Temperate Zone, with clear changes in altitudinal
zonality, the lower part is the warm zone, and the top is the
mesothermal zone. The favorable climatic conditions make Taishan
Mountain be covered with thick vegetation, luxuriant forests,
flourishing flowers and plants; which make up of a high afforestation
coverage rate of 79.9%, all of these are seldom seen in mountainous
scenic spots in northern area. There are numerous ancient and famous
trees, among which more than 30 thousand trees are aged over a hundred
praised as the "living cultural relics". Taishan Mountain is rich in
biological resources in which the rare traditional medicinal herbs
include Taishan glossy ganoderma, Polygonum multiflorum, Chinese
gromwell, four-leaf ginseng, sealwort etc. In the gills and streams of
Taishan Mountain lives a kind of rare fish specific in Taishan
Mountain-Red Squama Fish, which is one of the animal species at the
verge of extinction under the provincial protection. For many years,
Tai'an City has always been stressing the importance of protecting the
ecological environment, so that the afforestation coverage arte in the
city has reached 33.05%, with an average of 7.34 square meters green
land area per person. Tai'an City was honored the State Sanitary City
in 1995.

Tai'an, with its natural
treasures of nice products from the earth, also a remarkable place
producing outstanding people, is an agriculturally developed area in
the history. Its many agricultural products, such as Dawenkou peanut,
Xintai celery, Feicheng Buddhist peach ("fotao" in Chinese), Ningyang
Chinese date, Dongping short-tail cold-resistant sheep and Taishan
Mountain Chinese chestnut, red glossy ganoderma etc, enjoy good
reputations both in the country and overseas. Taishan Mountain is rich
in mineral resources in which more than fifty of them have been
explored, and the mineral resources under the ground account for over
half of solid mineral storage of Shandong Province. Since the reform
and opening up, the economy of Tai'an City develops so rapidly that it
has formed a complete industrial system which takes machinery,
chemicals, textiles and other light industrial goods, building
materials and coal as the pillar industries. The communications of
Tai'an City with other cities and countries have been enlarged
constantly, and it has established over six hundred joint ventures by
now. The status of the tourism in the national economy has been
improved day by day, and all these lead to the advance of all social
undertakings. Nowadays, Tai'an City has built a cooperative
relationship in the economy and trade with more than one hundred and
thirty countries and regions. The establishment of Tai'an Tourist
Economic Development Zone has brought new energy for the economic
development of Tai'an City.

Tai'an City has a long
history and a brilliant culture. Taishan Mountain is the key famous
scenic spot ofthe state and the natural cultural legacy of the world;
the ruins of Dawenkou Culture, Daimiao Temple (Temple of Taishan
Mountain) and Tomb of Feng Yuxiang are the important historical relies
under the state protection. Since the reform and opening up, the
cultural undertakings of Tai'an City have been developed quickly, all
sorts of cultural facilities such as library, museum and cinema have
been improved greatly, and the newspaper, broadcast, television and
cultural causes are in the forefront of Shandong Province. The
technical education of Tai'an City is advanced, and there are 21
scientific research institutes, 14 universities and colleges, and 45
polytechnic schools in the city.

Tai'an City possesses the
tourist resources with particularly favorable natural conditions which
have the Taishan Mountain as the representative, and the tourist
industry has developed vigorously since the reform and opening up, and
it is becoming the pillar industry of the city's economy. In 1998,
approximately 4.05 million domestic tourists visited the city, and the
direct income from tourist industry totaled 1.683 billion RMB. Taishan
Mountain is a traditional sightseeing and touring product, and if it
wants to attract tourists at home and abroad to come continuously, it
should be uninterruptedly developed according to the demands of the
tourist market. Pursuing new style, heightening the ancient style,
laying stress on the characteristics and radiating over the
surroundings, Tai'an has done a lot to expand the sightseeing area of
Taishan Mountain and enrich the tour items, which is helpful to the
development of tourist industry.

Additionally, the basic touring facilities of Tai'an City have been
perfected constantly, and tourist service functions of the city have
been improved unceasingly. Developed to nowadays, the whole city has
established 9 star-rated hotels and over two hundred restaurants of
various kinds. There are thirty travel agencies in the city, which
have the ability to receive thirty thousand people simultaneously. The
chain of tourist industry of "eating, lodging, walking, touring,
shopping and amusing" has come into being and is operating. As a new
industry, the tourist industry of Tai'an City has unfolded its
exuberant vigor, and Tai'an City is forwarding toward the aim of
becoming an extensive tourism, big market and large-scale industry.

The
city flower of Tai'an City is common crape myrtle, also called
Yangyang tree or crape myrtle, which is a kind of deciduous shrubbery
or small arbor. There is a tree of crape myrtle aged over one hundred
years in Luohanya (Arhat Precipice) Yard, its trunk twisted and
gnarled like a curled-up dragon full of ancient style interest. Every
year, there are red flowers on it from summer to autumn. When
blooming, the flowers are splendid like fire, and when being swayed by
the breeze, they quivers tenderly, which is too beautiful to be
appreciated all at once. In recent years, the crape myrtle has been
vastly planted in the streets, courtyards and scenic spots of Tai'an
City, and it was appointed as its city flower.

The
city tree of Tai'an City is Chinese scholar tree, also called Chinese
locust tree or family locust tree, which belongs to Leguminosae, the
deciduous arbor. The Chinese scholar tree, having powerful
adaptability, long life and sparse and casual shape, is a kind of
scenic beauty tree with high sightseeing value. The total amount of
Chinese scholar trees aged over one hundred years in Taishan Mountain
are 42, among which the most well-known are Tang Scholar tree in
Daimiao Temple, Wolong scholar tree in Doumu Palace, "Four scholar
trees" on the bends, etc.

Shandong Local Opera
Shandong Local Opera, performed to the accompaniment of wooden
clappers, is one of the old types of Shandong local dramas. It has
developed from Shaanxi Opera in Ming Dynasty, and has a history of
over 300 years. It is popular in the southwest of Shandong Province.
The music for voice in this kind of opera is emotional, loud and
sonorous. The type of time for music is complex and changeable. The
forms of performance are straightforward and uninhibited, and the
gestures are exaggerated. The opera is good at expressing the
straightforward and unrestrained characters of Shandong natives.
With strong local characteristics and local flavor. Tai'an Shandong
Local Opera Troupe, which was established in 1952, is the only
performing troupe of this kind of drama remained. The troupe has
about 100 performers and staff at present, including 3 first-class
performers (one of them enjoys the special subsidy from the State
Council), 20 second class performers and over 30 third-class
performers. The main performing dramas include: traditional dramas
Empress Dowager He Scolded the Emperor, Wufeng Ridge, Family Yang
Generals, and newly edited historical dramas Miss Yang Bajie
Rescuing Her Brother etc., especially the large-scale modern drama
rehearsed in recent years Eyas on Taishan Mountain, Full of Love on
Taishan Mountain and Sister-in-law which not only got the award of
"Perfect Project" in Shandong, but also were broadcast on CCTV and
got the state awards.

Acrobatics
Tai'an City Acrobatics Troupe has over 60 performers at present,
whose age is less than 20 years old on average. It is a troupe with
strong capability in Shandong acrobatic circle and is also well
known in China. The main repertoires of the acrobatic troupe are
Comic Soft High-wire Walding, Passing through the Barrel, Rotating
Carpet with Lithe Movement Kicking Bowls on High Bicycle and Flying
Trapeze etc., in which, Passng through the Barrel gained the
Copper-lion Award in the Acrobatic Competition in the East of China.
The performers of the troupe; with well-balanced cast and wonderful
programs, have actively performed in Shanghai Big World, Jiuxian
Palace and Zhuhai's New Yuanming Garden etc. in recent years. In
September 1998, the troupe was designated by China Performer
Association to attend the Chinese Culture Festival in Hawaii, USA.
The performance lasted three months. The troupe was warmly welcomed
by the local audiences and tourist groups, highly appraised and
received by the Chief Executive of Hawaii State and Honolulu City.

Folk Custom

Fengshan and Offering
Sacrifice on Taishan
Beliefs and Folk Customs of Taishan
As the saying goes: "Jinan has lots of people, while Tai'an has lots
of gods". Taishan Mountain has bred many gods. Among those gods, God
of Eastern Mountain, Bixia Yuanjun, and Taishan Shigandang are the
most famous. God of Eastern Mountain, also called God of Taishan
Mountain is the direct product of "Fengshan" activities. It reached
its prosperous period at Tang and Song Dynasties since its
establishment. It has been said that he is in charge of both the
changes of dynasties, the peace of the country and people, and life,
death, illness or good fortune of a person. He has boundless
supernatural power. After Song Dynasty, Goddess of Bixia Yuanjun
gradually took the overwhelming place of God of Taishan Mountain,
and was located highly in the Temple of Bixia Yuanjun on the top of
Taishan Mountain. Bixia Yuanjun had developed to an all-powerful
goddess, who was in charge of poorness, richness, illness or
misfortune of e person from her former function of being in charge
of only person's male offspring. She could cure illness and remove
calamities, and could satisfy every requirements. She had attracted
devotees to Buddha from all directions to come here to pray and
admire, after taking the trouble of traveling over a long distance.
Taishan Shigandang is a brave and strong god, from the need of
eliminating demons and avoiding evil spirits of common people. From
Tang and Song Dynasties, people used to had stones carved with his
name "Taishan Shigandang" set at important places in front of the
door, at the end of an alley or at the end of a bridge, to pray for
blessing and avoid evil. This custom has wide influences in China as
well as in other countries and regions such as Southeast Asia, Japan
and Korea.

Mountain
Fengshan is a kind of special cultural phenomena related with
Chinese famous mountains. After ascending the throne, the emperor
would lead the civil and military officials to the top of Taishan
Mountain to build an altar and offer sacrifice to Heaven, which
means that the merits belong to Heaven, and this is called "Feng".
Then the emperor and his officials would come to a hill at the foot
of Taishan Mountain to build an altar and offer sacrifice to the
Earth, which is called "Shan". Taishan Fengshan was originated from
the worship of our ancestors to the nature, and was changed to imply
that "The right of emperors is given by God". Later on, it has
become an important measure to reinforce the rule by governors of
the past dynasties. The emperors of the past dynasties, who have
come to Taishan Mountain and held large-scale activities of Fengshan
include: Ying Zheng-the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, Liu Che
Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu-Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty,
Li Zhi-Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, Li Longji-Emperor Xuanzong
of Tang Dynasty and Zhao Heng-Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty After
Song Dynasty, the emperors no longer held "Fengshan Ceremonies".
They only came to Taishan Mountain and held offering sacrifice
activities. Both Kangxi, Emperor Shengzu of Qing Dynasty and
Qianlong, Emperor Gaozong of Qing Dynasty had been to Taishan
Mountain. Qianlong had been to Taishan Mountain for 11 times. Now,
Tai'an City still holds solemn performance imitating imperial "Fengshan"
activities at Daimiao Temple during International Mountaineering
Festival in each September.

Taishan Xinzi
Taishan Xinzi is an ancient folk art. Common people always performed
"Carrying Xinzi" at Taishan Temple Fair from the end of Qing Dynasty
and the beginning of the Republic of China.
The art form of "Carrying Xinzi" imitates the construction of candle
stand, and adopts shouldering, carrying, turning and sustaining etc.
"Xinzi" has a high and narrow stage on its top, on which stands a
child acting the characters from dramas or fairy tales. For
instance, the "Xinzi" of the "airy Maiden of Longtan" and "Taishan
Mountain Xuanyun Temple", sorted out and edited by Tai'an Municipal
bureau of Culture for attending China "Long tan Cup" Folk Art
competition, was 8 meters high. The little girl and the little monk
standing on top of the Xinzi performed smoothly, which won the
audiences' great admiration, and won the grand awards.

Festival Celebrating Activities

Taishan Mountain
Temple Fair
Taishan Mountain Temple Fair is a comprehensive activity that
combines religious culture and business trade together. It was
originated in Tang Dynasty, formed its regulations in Song Dynasty,
enjoyed its hey day in Ming and Qing Dynasties and declined on one
occasion in the period of the Republic of China. It gradually became
prosperous after the Reform and Opening up of China. As folklore
says, March 28th and April 18th of lunar calendar were the birthdays
of the God of Eastern Mountain and the Goddess of Bixia Yuanjun
respectively, so ordinary people always hold temple fairs in March
and April and go on a pilgrimage to offer incense at the temple, and
celebrate the birthday of God of Taishan Mountain and Goddess of
Bixia Yuanjun. At the beginning, the main content of the temple fair
was religious activities. The pilgrims would eat, lodge, travel and
entertain themselves. As a result, the business activities and
cultural and entertainment activities also developed. Nowadays, the
main purpose of the temple fair has become economic trade, though
there are various cultural and recreational activities to add the
fun.

Accessibility to the CityTai'an City is
located in the middle of Shandong Province, and in the middle section
of the tourist itinerary of Mountains, Rivers and Confucius. Situated
on the main artery of transportation of Jing-Hu Railway, Jing-Hu
Express way and Jing-Hu National Highway, the traffic of Tai'an City
is convenient. It is less than 80 kilometers from Jinan in the
north-the capital of Shandong Province, and from the capital of
Shandong Province, and from Qufu in the south-the hometown of
Confucius. The distance is 120 kilometers from Jinan Yaoqiang
International Airport. There are tourist trains running between Tai'an
and Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Jinan and Qingdao.

Railway Station, Tourist TrainsTai'an Railway
Station, located at the key point of the middle section of Jing-Hu
Rail way, is under the management of Tai'an Locomotive Department. It
is a comprehensive transport-operating unit taking railway
transportation as its base, and multi-source economy such as tourist
industry and trade as its subsidiary business. Tai'an Railway Station
receives and sends over 40 passenger trains and 7,000 passenger every
day. The station has service facilities such as waiting room, ticket
office, baggage checkroom etc., and can handle passenger ticket
business of the whole county. It also has services such as booking,
buying and sending tickets, selling tickets at the door, organizing
transport business of group conference, taking and sending luggage,
express transportation of luggage and whole train transportation of
luggage etc. In order to meet the needs of the development of tourist
industry, Tai'an Railway Station has added special tourist trains from
Tai'an to the large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, Shanghai,
Tianjin, Jinan and Qingdao etc. to guarantee the convenient traffic of
domestic and foreign tourists.

Expressway
Jing-Hu Express way
Tai'an-Huamawan section of Jing-Hu Express way is 42.6 kilometers long
with a total investment of RMB 640 millions, and totally 5.65 million
cubic meters of earth and stone. There are one extremely giant bridge,
180 medium-sized and small bridges and 122 culverts in this section.
The section was completed and opened for traffic in November 1996.
Tai-Hua Expressway is the first section of Jing-Hu Expressway opened
for traffic. It is the first expressway of Tai'an, and also one of the
experimental projects which carry out the responsibility system of
project's owner representative in Shandong key projects. The quality
and rate of progress have come out top during many examinations and
appraisals of the key projects in Shandong, and the up-to-grade rate
of the project has reached 100%. The establishment of Tai-Hua
Expressway accelerates the communication between Tai'an and the
developed area in East China, and also makes great contribution to
accelerate the tourist industry economy.

Tai-Lai ExpresswayTai-Lai Expressway starts from Tai'an City in the west and
extends to Laiwu in the east. Both ends are connected with 104 and 205
National Highways respectively, and the middle section is crossed by
Jinan-Linyi and Zaoyuan-Xuzhou Provincial Roads. It is a first-grade
expressway which is totally crossed and enclosed, with a total length
of 52 kilometers, and a total investment of RMB 198 millions. This
expressway not only has a great influence on the development of Tai'an
and Laiwu's economies, but also plays an important role in promoting
the opening up of the eastern part and the development of the western
part of Shandong Province, since it is a key access connecting the
middle part of Shandong with the eastern economic development coastal
regions and the western energy base for Central China.

Taxi
The total number of taxis in the urban area of Tai'an City has reached
1,289, among which there are 110 cars, 1,179 mini buses. The vehicles
are mainly of three kinds, Santana, Xiali and Dafa. The prices are as
follows: as for car, the lowest price is RMB 7 yuan/2 kilometers,
after 2 kilometers RMB 2 yuan/1 kilometer is added; as for mini bus,
the lowest price is RMB 5 yuan/2 kilometers, after 2 kilometers, RMB
1.5 yuan/1 kilometer is added. The existing management rules stipulate
that the Bureau of Traffic would be in charge of the management and 15
taxi management branches under the leadership of the Bureau of Traffic
should be established. Nowadays, all the taxis have been
computer-managed, equipped with service marks and taximeter. Telephone
for complaint has been set up, the number being 8229769. The taxi
industry has developed activity of acting as civilized driver, adding
luster to Taishan Mountain' striving for young civilization model,
which continuously improves the tourist service quality.

Traffic among Major Scenic SpotsTai'an City is merged around Taishan Mountain. There
are four routes for your selection to visit Taishan Mountain. The
first one is the middle route. Starting from Red Gate, walking along
the stone steps and winding paths, you'll reach Jade Emperor peak via
Middle Gate to Heaven and Shibapan Road. The whole route is 6
kilometers long. The second one is the west route. Taking tourist bus
at Tianwai village for 11 kilometers directly to Middle Gate to
heaven, you'll get to the road for buses. Tourists can climb Shibapan
Road, or take Middle Gate to Heaven Cable car to get to the top of
Taishan Mountain. The third one is Taohuayu tour route. Take special
tourist bus at the rail way station to the entrance to the scenic
spot, and then to Taohuayuan Garden, through 10-kilometer road. Then
take the cableway to get to the top of Taishan Mountain. The fourth
one is Tianzhu Peak walk route. Go 11 kilometers from Shuanglong Pool
to Tianzhu Peak, then go along the walk road through Houshi Cove
Scenic Spot, and take the cableway to get to the top of Taishan
Mountain.

Tai'an
Department Store
Shandong Taishan Department Store Joint-stock Co., Ltd. (former Tai'an
Department Store which started business in October 1971) was approved
by provincial government in 1994 to become the first enterprise that
carried out the joint stock system, and started business in January
1995. The company also reconstructed and expanded the store building
in 1995. The modern building with the construction area of 30,000
square meters, business area of 15,000 square meters, advanced
facilities and splendid decoration was put into operation at the end
of 1995. The company has 889 employees, and deals with about 40,000
kinds of commodities. At present, there are 14 business departments,
126 operation groups and 3 retail stations under its control. The
company achieved annual turnover at. RMB 155 million yuan in 1998. The
company became one of the Top 200 Chinese retail enterprises in 1997
and ranked No.172.Hualian PlazaTai'an Hualian Plaza was established and put into operation in May
1994. It has 590 employees and 13 business departments at present,
with business area of 8,000 square meters. The plaza deals with 30,000
kinds of commodities including non-staple food, daily necessities,
knitted & textile garment, electrical appliance & hardware and special
local products. The plaza is in the middle section of Dongyue Street
to north of the world famous Daimiao Temple, west to Overseas Hotel,
and has convenient transport. The interior of the plaza has been
splendidly decorated with all necessary facilities. Since the
beginning of operation, the plaza has strictly adhered to the business
principle of "Commodities should be superior in quality, services
should be superior emotionally, shopping should be superior for its
convenience and function should be superior for completeness", and
taken "Develop large tourist industries, and set up good examples for
Tai'an" as the operating target, by reinforcing internal management,
deepening the high quality services and developing the business
markets which focus on tourist services, the plaza has got excellent
social benefits as well as economic benefits. In 1998, the plaza has
achieved sales turnover of RMB 80 million yuan, and profits after
taxes at RMB 2.91 million yuan. The plaza has been appointed as a
designated department store by the Municipal tourism Administration.Taishan Cultural SquareTaishan Culture Square, located on Hongmen Road-a famous tourist
shopping street of "Tai'an City, and next to the historic Daimiao
Temple, is the central area for tourists to go traveling and
sightseeing shopping and relaxing. Taishan Culture Square is a
comprehensive artistic gallery, gathering works of painting and
calligraphy, rare stones and root sculpture etc. The square occupies
over 2,000 square meters area, with over 30 different artistic styled
halls such as business hall, painting and calligraphy hall, primitive
simplicity cultural teahouses, has become a place for Taishan Mountain
cultural celebration gathering. Taishan Culture Square carries forward
Taishan Mountain's civilization, develops tourist economy as its
operating aim, and has provided Taishan Mountain's artists with an
excellent gate to the market. The inexhaustible sagacity of Taishan
Mountain grants Taishan Culture Square full of vigor and vitality. The
establishment of Taishan Culture Square adds glory to Taishan's
cultural industries.
Tel : 0538-8204650
Address : East of Road, 100 Meters away from North Gate of Daimiao
Temple, Tai'an
Tourist Shopping StreetThe Tourist Shopping Street starts in the south from the north
gate of Daimiao Temple, and in the north reaches Daizongfang (memorial
archway for God of Taishan Mountain), in the east extends to the rural
fair trade market and in the west reaches Qingnian Road. The street is
in simple and classical style, and is well integrated with surrounding
buildings. Daibei Rural Fair Trade Market at the east end of the
street has dry and fresh fruits and native products such as Tai'an
thin pancake, Ningyang Chinese-date, Taishan Chinese chestnut and
walnut etc. Tai'an Antique Shop has antique and rare curiosa, the four
precious articles of the writing table and writing materials for the
tourists to collect. Taishan Culture Square deals with painting and
calligraphy, pottery ware, native arts and root sculptures. There are
the markets of flowers, birds, fishes and insects on both sides of the
street which has green trees and fresh flowers, fishes and birds,
native products of Taishan Mountain-Red glossy ganoderma wooden
clapper stone, tourists can view and enjoy the flowers, birds and
fishes. Along the street, there are hotels and restaurants for
tourists, garment and small item shops for tourists to choose. At the
north end of the street, there is the elegant and beautiful Daizong
Garden. This busiest street, which combines eating, lodging,
traveling, touring and amusement, is an ideal place for touring and
shopping, and also a beautiful scenic spot of Tai'an City.

RestaurantTai'an Department Store
Shandong Taishan Department Store Joint-stock Co., Ltd. (former Tai'an
Department Store which started business in October 1971) was approved
by provincial government in 1994 to become the first enterprise that
carried out the joint stock system, and started business in January
1995. The company also reconstructed and expanded the store building
in 1995. The modern building with the construction area of 30,000
square meters, business area of 15,000 square meters, advanced
facilities and splendid decoration was put into operation at the end
of 1995. The company has 889 employees, and deals with about 40,000
kinds of commodities. At present, there are 14 business departments,
126 operation groups and 3 retail stations under its control. The
company achieved annual turnover at. RMB 155 million yuan in 1998. The
company became one of the Top 200 Chinese retail enterprises in 1997
and ranked No.172.Hualian PlazaTai'an Hualian Plaza was established and put into operation in May
1994. It has 590 employees and 13 business departments at present,
with business area of 8,000 square meters. The plaza deals with 30,000
kinds of commodities including non-staple food, daily necessities,
knitted & textile garment, electrical appliance & hardware and special
local products. The plaza is in the middle section of Dongyue Street
to north of the world famous Daimiao Temple, west to Overseas Hotel,
and has convenient transport. The interior of the plaza has been
splendidly decorated with all necessary facilities. Since the
beginning of operation, the plaza has strictly adhered to the business
principle of "Commodities should be superior in quality, services
should be superior emotionally, shopping should be superior for its
convenience and function should be superior for completeness", and
taken "Develop large tourist industries, and set up good examples for
Tai'an" as the operating target, by reinforcing internal management,
deepening the high quality services and developing the business
markets which focus on tourist services, the plaza has got excellent
social benefits as well as economic benefits. In 1998, the plaza has
achieved sales turnover of RMB 80 million yuan, and profits after
taxes at RMB 2.91 million yuan. The plaza has been appointed as a
designated department store by the Municipal tourism Administration.
Taishan Cultural SquareTaishan Culture Square, located on Hongmen Road-a famous tourist
shopping street of "Tai'an City, and next to the historic Daimiao
Temple, is the central area for tourists to go traveling and
sightseeing shopping and relaxing. Taishan Culture Square is a
comprehensive artistic gallery, gathering works of painting and
calligraphy, rare stones and root sculpture etc. The square occupies
over 2,000 square meters area, with over 30 different artistic styled
halls such as business hall, painting and calligraphy hall, primitive
simplicity cultural teahouses, has become a place for Taishan Mountain
cultural celebration gathering. Taishan Culture Square carries forward
Taishan Mountain's civilization, develops tourist economy as its
operating aim, and has provided Taishan Mountain's artists with an
excellent gate to the market. The inexhaustible sagacity of Taishan
Mountain grants Taishan Culture Square full of vigor and vitality. The
establishment of Taishan Culture Square adds glory to Taishan's
cultural industries.
Tel : 0538-8204650
Address : East of Road, 100 Meters away from North Gate of Daimiao
Temple, Tai'an
Tourist Shopping StreetThe Tourist Shopping Street starts in the south from the north
gate of Daimiao Temple, and in the north reaches Daizongfang (memorial
archway for God of Taishan Mountain), in the east extends to the rural
fair trade market and in the west reaches Qingnian Road. The street is
in simple and classical style, and is well integrated with surrounding
buildings. Daibei Rural Fair Trade Market at the east end of the
street has dry and fresh fruits and native products such as Tai'an
thin pancake, Ningyang Chinese-date, Taishan Chinese chestnut and
walnut etc. Tai'an Antique Shop has antique and rare curiosa, the four
precious articles of the writing table and writing materials for the
tourists to collect. Taishan Culture Square deals with painting and
calligraphy, pottery ware, native arts and root sculptures. There are
the markets of flowers, birds, fishes and insects on both sides of the
street which has green trees and fresh flowers, fishes and birds,
native products of Taishan Mountain-Red glossy ganoderma wooden
clapper stone, tourists can view and enjoy the flowers, birds and
fishes. Along the street, there are hotels and restaurants for
tourists, garment and small item shops for tourists to choose. At the
north end of the street, there is the elegant and beautiful Daizong
Garden. This busiest street, which combines eating, lodging,
traveling, touring and amusement, is an ideal place for touring and
shopping, and also a beautiful scenic spot of Tai'an City.